Calgary, Alta. – Seattle Thunderbirds defenseman Jake Lee is one of 14 Western Hockey League players named to the selection camp for Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team, which will compete at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton and Red Deer from August 6 to 11, 2018.

In his rookie season last year Lee had four goals and six assists for 10 points in 64 games. Lee, from Sherwood Park, Alberta, was the T-Birds first round selection, 18th overall, in the 2016 Bantam Draft.

Newly rebranded as the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the annual tournament is one of the only true, best-on-best competitions for this age group. While the event is being co-hosted in Edmonton and Red Deer, Canada will play all of its games out of Rogers Place in Edmonton, except for a pre-tournament game against the Czech Republic slated for 7 p.m. on August 4 at the brand-new Servus Arena in Red Deer.

“Unlike our other summer camps, these players are part of a selection process from the moment they arrive, and the opportunity is to represent Canada on the world stage,” said Scott Salmond, vice-president of hockey operations and national teams for Hockey Canada. “We have a very talented group of players coming to Calgary in late July, and we will no doubt have some very difficult decisions to make when it’s time to select this year’s Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team. The players are excited to arrive and get started, and they are all coming in with the goal of making our decision a difficult one.”

Included in this year’s selection camp roster are Vancouver Giants defenceman Bowen Byram and Edmonton Oil Kings defenceman Matthew Robertson who were part of Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team that competed at the 2018 IIHF U18 World Championship in Russia last April, going undefeated in preliminary-round action. The selection camp roster also includes a pair of WHL Champions in defencemen Jake Lee (Sherwood Park, Alta. / Seattle Thunderbirds) and Jacson Alexander (Victoria B.C. / Swift Current Broncos), who won titles with their respective clubs in 2017 and 2018.

Forward Dylan Cozens (Whitehorse, Yukon / Lethbridge Hurricanes) was named the recipient of the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s Rookie of the Year at the 2018 WHL Awards.

Last year, six WHL players were part of the 21 Canadian Hockey League players who won gold at the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, including Ty Smith (Lloydminster, Alta. / Spokane Chiefs), Jett Woo (Winnipeg, Man. / Moose Jaw Warriors) and Calen Addison (Brandon, Man. / Lethbridge Hurricanes), all of whom were all recently selected at the 2018 NHL Draft this past weekend in Dallas, Texas. Canada has won gold 21 times in 27 years of summer under-18 competition.

Taylor Gauthier

L

6’1”

188

02/15/01

Calgary, Alta.

Prince George (WHL)

2019 Draft

Nolan Maier

L

6’0”

168

01/10/01

Yorkton, Sask.

Saskatoon (WHL)

2019 Draft

Jacson Alexander

L

5’9”

171

02/01/01

Victoria, B.C.

Swift Current (WHL)

2019 Draft

Bowen Byram

L

6’0”

176

06/13/01

Cranbrook, B.C.

Vancouver (WHL)

2019 Draft

Kaedan Korczak

R

6’0”

170

01/29/01

Yorkton, Sask.

Kelowna (WHL)

2019 Draft

Jake Lee

R

6’2”

197

07/13/01

Sherwood Park, Alta.

Seattle (WHL)

2019 Draft

Matthew Robertson

L

6’3”

195

03/09/01

Sherwood Park, Alta.

Edmonton (WHL)

2019 Draft

Braden Schneider

R

6’1”

197

09/20/01

Prince Albert, Sask.

Brandon (WHL)

2020 Draft

Dylan Cozens

R

6’3”

177

02/09/01

Whitehorse, Y.T.

Lethbridge (WHL)

2019 Draft

Kirby Dach

R

6’4”

181

01/21/01

Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.

Saskatoon (WHL)

2019 Draft

Peyton Krebs

L

5’11”

162

01/26/01

Okotoks, Alta.

Kootenay (WHL)

2019 Draft

Sasha Mutala

R

6’0”

187

05/06/01

Vancouver, B.C.

Tri-City (WHL)

2019 Draft

Josh Williams

R

6’1”

185

03/08/01

Langley, B.C.

Medicine Hat (WHL)

2019 Draft

Connor Zary

L

5’11”

166

09/25/01

Saskatoon, Sask.

Kamloops (WHL)

2020 Draft

A new all-Canada ticket package and the event’s new trophy design were also unveiled this morning.

“There’s nothing like competing on home ice, and this will be a very special event for our team – staff and players,” said Salmond. “The work begins in Calgary at selection camp, and we’re looking forward to heading up the QEII and competing in front of Canadian fans this summer. This is always a true demonstration of best-on-best hockey, and the fans in Edmonton and Red Deer will not be disappointed.”

About the Western Hockey League
Regarded as the world’s finest development league for junior hockey players, the Western Hockey League (WHL) head office is based in Calgary, Alberta. The WHL consists of 22 member Clubs with 17 located in Western Canada and five in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. A member of the Canadian Hockey League, the WHL has been a leading supplier of talent for the National Hockey League for over 50 years. The WHL is also the leading provider of hockey scholarships with over 350 graduates each year receiving WHL Scholarships to pursue a post-secondary education of their choice. Each season, WHL players also form the nucleus of Canada’s National Junior Hockey Team.

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